By tossing conventional wisdom out the window interior designer Lisa Teague found 6 inventive ways to brighten up her New Hampshire home.

Lesson #1: Wring drama from an over-looked spot.

Lesson #1: Wring drama from an over-looked spot.

Lisa Teague set the palette for her whole house by brushing a spectrum of shades on the risers of her staircase—the first thing people see when they walk in the door. “I wanted to make a statement, but a subtle one,” she explains.

For her stairs, Teague mixed glaze into the paint to achieve this lightly weathered effect.

Lesson #2: A single painted wall can speak volumes.

Lesson #2: A single painted wall can speak volumes.

In Lisa Teague’s living room, a window frame from an old barn hangs above the sofa, handed down from a client. The decorator repurposed a vintage upholstered ottoman—its legs recast in turquoise—as a coffee table.

“This cool green wall causes the others to recede—which makes my narrow living room feel larger,” says Teague, who used Sea Glass paint from her own line. “Plus, the sofa and artwork would’ve disappeared against white.”